Chapter 334 - 331: The Old Couple’s Plot

Chapter 334: Chapter 331: The Old Couple’s Plot

"Shanshan, get ready for tomorrow. We need to find time to visit the Lin family and finalize the children’s engagement," Jiang Wende said after a long moment of thought.

In any case, Gaoyuan Toys was fairly well-known in the area. Since the two kids were already living together and had possibly even slept together, they had to give Yanwan a formal commitment.

With both Jiang Xia and Lin Yanwan still under the legal age of marriage, an engagement was the most prudent course of action.

Furthermore, after Jiang Xia revealed he was the owner of Qitian Animation, the two families had grown even closer. Their relationship was no longer just about personal ties but also about business collaboration.

An engagement would essentially bind the two families tightly together.

"Okay," Xia Shanshan said with a nod.

Before today, she had been a little worried. The Lin Family had made a fortune selling toys; what if they looked down on an ordinary family like theirs? But now? Now, they were a perfect match.

Once the engagement was settled, they could let the two of them do as they pleased. Even if Yanwan were to get pregnant by accident, they wouldn’t have to worry about any nasty gossip.

"Old Jiang, do you think they’ll agree? The kids have only just started college, after all. They’re still a bit young," Xia Shanshan asked, a little worried.

"How could they not agree? The way I see it, they’re probably more anxious about this than we are," Jiang Wende asserted.

Yanwan was their daughter, and their toy factory depended on Qitian Animation’s copyrights. Settling this sooner rather than later would put their minds at ease.

It was safe to say that the New Year holiday was the perfect opportunity to finalize their engagement.

"That’s true. I’ll go prepare the gifts for the marriage proposal tomorrow, then. Oh, right, should we tell Xiaxia about this?"

"Let’s not tell him. He hid something as big as starting a company from us, so we’ll just quietly arrange this major life event for him," Jiang Wende said with a laugh.

Xia Shanshan couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. ’This father and son duo really are so alike.’

◇

The next day, Jiang Xia slept in until late in the morning. After getting dressed and leaving his bedroom, he found no one at home. Jiang Wende had probably gone to work, and Xia Shanshan had most likely gone to the market to buy groceries to make him a feast for lunch.

After washing up, he saw a familiar note on the table. It was in Xia Shanshan’s handwriting.

Son:

Your mom has something to do today, so I’ve gone out. Sort out lunch for yourself at your mother-in-law’s place. We’ll figure out dinner later.

Xia Shanshan

8:13 AM

Jiang Xia scratched his head. ’Chasing her own son off to someone else’s house... that’s my mom, all right.’

Still, since his mom had said so, what was he waiting for?

He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Lin Yanwan: "Wifey, I’m on my way!"

"We’re out of soy sauce. Remember to grab a bottle on your way over."

"You got it! After we meet up, can I have a kiss? I’ve come down with a deadly disease that can only be cured by hugging my wifey to sleep at night."

"No way!" Lin Yanwan glanced at her parents, who were busy in the kitchen, and continued typing, "My parents are home today. You’d better behave."

"We can kiss in your room; they’d never know."

Lin Yanwan was furious. "You really think they don’t know what’s going on when we close the door!?"

She was thin-skinned. It was just an act of self-deception, trying to fool herself.

This couldn’t help but bring to mind a wise saying from Mr. Lu Xun. Thanks to the power of human imagination, a young couple might just be hugging and kissing, but if they’re behind a closed door for more than three minutes, the first thing anyone thinks of is that the "seed has already been planted."

It was just that absurd.

"Fine."

Jiang Xia couldn’t help but sigh. ’I should have just stayed in the Imperial Capital a couple more days,’ he thought. ’Coming back right on New Year’s Eve would have been perfect.’

He changed into clean clothes, grabbed the note from the table, and headed out the door.

He bought a bottle of soy sauce at the supermarket outside his residential complex, then hailed a taxi from the curb. As luck would have it, he ran into his own dad again.

Jiang Xia saw the familiar license plate number, and the corner of his mouth twitched. A flood of unpleasant memories began to assault him.

Sometimes he even suspected that Jiang Wende was secretly following him all day. Otherwise, how could such coincidences keep happening?

Even if Wanzhou wasn’t that big, it was impossible that he’d get his own dad every single time he called a cab.

He resignedly pulled open the car door and sat in the front passenger seat. Jiang Wende glanced at the bottle of soy sauce in his hand and, without even asking where he was going, started driving in the direction of his in-laws’ house.

"Mom had to go out for something, so she told me to go to Yanwan’s house for lunch," Jiang Xia said after a moment’s hesitation.

"Mm, I know."

Jiang Wende nodded. Spotting an opening in the left lane, he flicked on his turn signal, whipped the steering wheel, gave the accelerator a gentle tap, and successfully changed lanes before the car behind could catch up.

Jiang Xia: "...Dad, be more careful when you drive. It’s almost the New Year, and the streets are crowded with cars and people. I’m not in a hurry, can’t you drive a little slower?"

"That’s exactly why I have to drive like this. There was a long line of cars behind that one. If I hadn’t squeezed in just now, I would have had to wait until the next intersection to make a move," Jiang Wende said calmly.

As a veteran driver, he had complete faith in his skills. Besides, the situation just now hadn’t been dangerous. And what taxi driver doesn’t overtake and cut people off? Weaving through traffic was a basic skill every qualified cabbie should master.

In other words, the faster you got a passenger to their destination, the sooner you could pick up the next fare, which meant you could earn more money.

Jiang Xia frowned. For some reason, he recalled Jiang Wende’s car accident from his previous life. Although that had been due to fatigued driving, he didn’t dare gamble with the odds now.

What if the world line from his past life was converging?

"Dad, you just promised me yesterday that safety comes first. If you keep this up, I’ll have to force you to quit," Jiang Xia said seriously.

Jiang Wende’s expression stiffened. He knew his son was just worried about him, afraid he’d get into an accident.

Jiang Xia was a big boss now. The money he made in a single day was likely more than what his father earned in a whole year, so he cherished his family’s safety all the more.

At that, Jiang Wende’s tone immediately softened. "Alright, alright. I’ll drive slower from now on. I’ll try not to overtake or cut people off. But it’s a habit I’ll have to change slowly. You can’t expect me to change decades of driving habits overnight."

Jiang Xia nodded. "That’s more like it."

The taxi quickly arrived at the East Gate of Brocade Splendor City. Jiang Xia unbuckled his seatbelt. "Dad, I’m heading upstairs now."

"Mm, go on, go on."

Only after Jiang Xia’s figure had disappeared from view did Jiang Wende pick up his phone to call his wife.

"Our son just went over. How are the preparations on your end?"

"I’ve bought the cigarettes, liquor, and tea. What else should I get?"

"That should be enough. Maybe buy some high-end nutritional supplements, milk, and cooking oil, things like that."

"Mm, okay."

"Where are you? I’m coming to pick you up."